The strike will disrupt the arrival of fresh stock of agricultural produce in the city thereby creating shortage of vegetables and fruits.
Mumbaikars are worried about the strike announced by farmers on June 1 to press forward for their demands of loan waiver and free electricity. The strike will adversely affect the lives of citizens and traders as it may create shortage of essential commodities in the state. Since most of the vegetables and fruits arrive in Mumbai from cities like Nashik, Pune, Satara and other regions of the state it will create scarcity of vegetables may lead to price hike. Many farmers have committed suicide in the state due to rising debt and crop failure. State government nonetheless give false assurance about offering loan waiver and financial assistance to farmers but no aid is provided to them. Therefore many of them have to end their lives. Many farmers have availed loan but are unable to repay them due to poor agricultural output hence they are facing severe hardships.
Satish Singh a vegetable vendor from Kandivali said, “If farmers go ahead with the proposed strike on June 1 then we will have to undergo severe hardships. The strike will disrupt the arrival of fresh stock of agricultural produce in the city.”
Pravin Jaiswal a fruit stall owner from Kandivali said, “The strike will affect my business as I have only few stocks of fruits left with me. I will also incur heavy losses as customers won’t turn up at my shop. I may have to shut my shop on June 1 due to the strike.”
Ramlal Pandey a truck driver said, “We often transport vegetables to Mumbai from other regions of the state. But if farmers go on strike it will have an impact on our business. I hope the situation should resort to normalcy soon.”
Avni Shah a Borivali resident said, “Political parties only shed crocodile tears over the hardships faced by farmers. They only know to politicise this issue for gaining mileage. Many of them hold protests to highlight the plight of farmers but they don’t work for their welfare.”
Deepa Doshi a housewife from Kandivali said, “The government should come forward to have a dialogue with farmers and find out a solution to address their grievances. At present they are merely paying lip service to farmers.”
Pratap Singh a vegetable distributor said, “Farmers are the backbone of our country and government doesn’t pay any heed to their demands. Instead of politicising farmer suicides why can’t the government come forward to offer loan waiver to them or provide electricity at cheaper rates to them?.”
Kisan Kranti spokesperson Dhananjay Dhorde said, “We prepared a charter of demands about problems faced by farmers. We have sought pension for farmers and a 100 percent subsidy for drip irrigation. The demands were submitted to the local tehsildar,” he said.
“If the government doesn’t act on our demands by 31 May, no agri produce will be brought to market and we will also desist from activities including sowing new crop,” he said.
